


sleep through the sunrise

by kemia



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Fluff, Gaius is a Motivational Speaker basically, M/M, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 04:59:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12125043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kemia/pseuds/kemia
Summary: ricken needs to chill out. gaius is there to make sure he does.





	sleep through the sunrise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cafebat (ryki)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryki/gifts).



> hey y'all! this is a piece that i wrote for @cafebat! i'd never seen this ship before it was requested, but honestly i'm willing to board the rarepair train because this is really cute.
> 
> if you want to see more details about my works, check out my twitter @ emeraldsustrai! ♥

He’s prepared the same words so many times, it may as well have been written in ink on his palms. _Gods,_ it was possible that generations from now, it might be his voice that drifts through his kin’s minds, forced to hear it with no context whatsoever. Ricken had to have hope, though, that perhaps further in his family’s bloodline, there might be an heir with a far better grasp at magic, or - really, anything at all.

Everyone in the army had to have heard it at least once, some time and time again, so it was far easier to swallow his shame and make his approach, the brim of his hat hiding more of his eyes than usual.

“Thanks for helping me out back there. Also, um, sorry for being dead weight… again.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Sparky. It happens to all - most - well, some of us. It happens.”

(His history with Gaius and the nickname Sparky was a long-winded argument of passion that bordered between patronizing and … actually, kind of pleasant. Sure, Ricken used wind magic and it didn’t make any sense, but Gaius was so certain that he ‘couldn’t think of a good wind-y nickname’ that Sparky was going to stick with him to the grave - it could have been worse. At this point, he found it kind of endearing - but Ricken would never admit that.)

“Well… thanks, I guess,” Ricken muttered, just barely audible, as he lowered himself onto a log around the dying campfire. His attention flew toward the stars, so drowned in his internal noise that he didn’t even acknowledge Gaius plopping himself adjacent to him.

“I have to train more so I finally stop getting overwhelmed, but I really don’t think I can get up much earlier…” Ricken started up on a familiar monologue, tongue rolling like a tumbleweed. “If I train before dawn, I can’t read my tome… I guess I could try candlelight, but -”

Without any warning, something was shoved into his open mouth, interrupting his mental itinerary - startled, his hand jerked up to seize the culprit. Yanking it from between his lips left a trail on his tongue … an overly sweet, tooth-rotting trail. It was -

“Grape,” Gaius chimed in, his tone impish as he popped another lollipop of the same deep purple into his own mouth, nestling it in his cheek. “You’re doing that thing you do again.”

“What thing? I don’t have a _thing,_ I just-”

“Day before last you nearly fell off a cliff ‘cause you were basically sleepwalking while you were casting spells. Spellwalking. Had to start fakin’ animal sounds to snap you out of it. ”

“You were watching me?!”  
  
Ricken could sound as surprised or offended as he wanted, but Gaius was always the one who was there to help him, whether or not he asked. It was like a protective mother hovering over their newborn - or perhaps more like a vulture swinging low over a strip of carrion to ward away any other takers. Either way, Gaius was probably the reason that he still walked with the living, and he _had_ to be grateful for that.

Maybe that was why ‘Sparky’ stopped bothering him - maybe that was why apologizing to Gaius bothered him less than it did with the others. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

“Have you ever stopped and considered that maybe you’re fallin’ behind in battles _because_ you’re training in cockcrow hours? You’re startin’ to look worse for wear, and that’s comin’ from _me.”_

“How can you say that, though? You _never_ look worse for wear.”

Of course, that pulled a snicker from Gaius, who now shifted his body completely toward Ricken. He snatched up a flint stone lying near the pit and pitched it into the low-lying embers, rattling them enough for a small flame to ignite amid the charred wood.

“Oh, really?”

The realization of what his words had implied, coupled with Gaius’s stupid amount of overreacting, slapped him right across the face, leaving his cheeks warm.

“You know that’s not what I meant! I meant that you _always_ know what you’re doing. You’re always able to rely on yourself to get out of a jam, but I just ... can’t. I’m not strong enough to make any sort of actual contribution - it still feels like I’m just being babysat.”

The excitable, mischievous behavior quickly vanished from Gaius without a trace, his tone like it had been dragged through gravel.

“Alright, look, there's something you’ve gotta understand. It's not like Blue is necessarily lookin’ for honed, perfect do-gooders - _though I kind of doubt he'd complain_ \- who can swing a sword twice their size. He's just lookin’ for people who are willing to fight. So I’d say you contribute as much as me - hell, as much as anyone else - just being here.”

Playing once again with a familiar smile, he reached over and knocked Ricken’s hat to the ground, ruffling his hair until it stuck in different directions. Unlike any other time, Ricken didn't mind the tease, and let his hat lie - it would still be there later.

“Plus, you're kind of, uh - _important_ to me, and I’ll cover your backside as many times as I have to. So relax, alright? No need to get worked up.”

The reassurance _was_ enticing. Ricken couldn’t _possibly_ notice how his hands were kneading together, or how he couldn’t stop staring at Gaius. It was like looking dead-eyed into an eclipse - you know you shouldn’t stare for that long, but the temptation to look like an idiot is far too great.

He was grateful, to the point where if he were less tired, he might have gotten emotional. Not that he _wanted_ to - it just happened. He was still figuring himself out - everything for him kind of just … _happened._

All that was able to snap the mage out of his daze was the change in height when Gaius stood.

“Welp, I’m off to snipe from the pantry.” As he brushed past the stunned Ricken, Gaius leaned over just far enough to leave a short smooch on his right temple.

“I’ll snag you something, too, but _only_ if you sleep through the sunrise. See you, Sparky.”

As the thief trailed off into the darkness, Ricken grabbed his hat and pulled it over his face, to hide the blush that no one else could see. The only dead weight on him now was his heart, beating so fully in his chest that he could barely stand.

“Gaius! Hold on, I’m coming with you!”


End file.
